The Bermuda Cement Company wants to invest $4 million in a new plant in the West End and its boss is furious that Wedco won't let it.

President Jim Butterfield, whose business has been leasing premises for 40 years from the West End Development Company, has accused the Government quango of being "unprofessional, pathetic, and impossible" to work with.

The lease on the 21,000 square foot property is up at the end of 2005 and Mr. Butterfield is furious that he has been unable to develop the site due to uncertainty over whether the company will be able to stay on the site beyond that date.

Wedco has asked for 'expressions of interest' in taking over the lease from 2006 leaving Mr. Butterfield fearful that "soon we're going to have to tell Bermudians that we have no cement".

Wedco general manager Lloyd Telford revealed to The Royal Gazette that he had received "more than half a dozen" proposals from interested parties for the site, although he was unwilling to give any more details.

The Bermuda Cement Company is one of those companies to submit a bid, but Mr. Butterfield feels that his company should not have to re-apply for its lease and is accusing Wedco of trying to get rid of his company.

"We're desperately trying to extend and repair the plant and we've been frustrated because they haven't made a decision about the lease," he told The Royal Gazette.

"We could get no response from decision-makers and everyone we go to about it, well it just seems that it isn't a priority. Forty years ago we rented this land and over the last two years we've been begging to have the plant fixed but there has been no decision made about rebuilding this facility.

"If we had a poor record I could understand it, but that simply is not the case.

"Wedco talk about trying to improve and develop this area, yet there is a company here looking to invest heavily in improvements - we want to build a whole new plant - and they just don't seem interested.

"It is a farcical situation, a sham. I don't know exactly what is going on but it seems ridiculous that we are in this position.

"There is no way we can back this sort of investment, and we are not asking for a hand-out, when we don't know whether we are going to be here in two years time."

Mr. Butterfield said the company had looked at a variety of alternative sites but there was nowhere suitable for his company, which he admitted would probably have to fold if it did not get the lease extended.

"For most people it is a dull subject," he continued.

"But cement is what the community is built on and we are providing it. Even with all the damage we suffered in Fabian, we kept production going. I see cement production as an essential service.

"This place is falling apart, it isn't much more than a plywood box now, but we keep going. We would love to repair it, and are prepared to make that investment, but not without a secure future."

He added that if they were to build a new plant, they would do so adjacent to the current one so that production could be continued seamlessly.

However Mr. Telford has defended Wedco's handling of the situation, describing the process as the exercise of "due diligence".

"The Board has approved a three phase approach," he said.

"The first phase is asking for timely expressions of interest, then submitting detailed plans for proposals and then seeking the best proposal. This is a landlord-tenant relationship based on due diligence.

"The Bermuda Cement Company has the same opportunity as any other party, if anything they have an advantage because they know the cement industry which is the current use for the site."

Legally, Wedco does not have to advertise for public expressions of interest and is able to extend the lease for the Bermuda Cement Company if it chooses to, but Mr. Telford said that it had taken this route to ensure "transparency".

Expressions of interest must be submitted by November 14 at which point firm proposals would be sought by Wedco. A decision on the lease is expected next year.